The Selfish Truth.

[MakeupANNimal]

Once your channel gets bigger it's hard to keep up. And I am definitely not going to sub to anyone that subs me and watch all of their videos just because I want to thank then. One girl pretty much shoved down my throat to subscribe and like, comment all her videos and guess what I did? Ignored it. Because that's not how you go about networking. There was a period where I tapped into a smaller youtuber group and I was subbing people I liked and I got flooded with people asking me to look at their channel too. I won't subscribe or respond unless I like their content. I just don't have the time to film, edit, and watch EVERY video for EVERY person that asks me to check them out, let alone subscribe. Ultimately if you want to grow you have to keep releasing content and mainly focus on your most engaged people (first to comment, superfans), not someone that subbed and followed on twitter. People won't notice that unless you have really good branding or left a good comment. You don't have to nag but you can still leave a comment without explicitly asking to sub! Your branding should point to the fact that you make videos so if they're small, they'll get the point and come to you on their own.

Ps. I used to personally thank people who subscribed, but now it's in a part of people's channels where majority of the people won't check. So it's a little of a waste of time and yt tags you as spamming. I'm ultimately going to thank people that leave meaningful comments and took time to watch my videos.

 

[Moses Cheeks]

It was your choice to sub and follow me. Unless you do something that will make me like you like interaction I will see u as just another sub

 

[Crown]

I understand what you are saying, and I agree with you. I think my initial post is giving people the wrong idea. I never thought that sub4sub was such a taboo topic on this forum, so I am sorry if I hurt your feelings. I was not talking about that and don't condone it which I've mentioned, and yet you repeatedly accuse me of doing this? Dude c'mon.

I agree with you in the fact that one should subscribe to a channel if you genuinely want to. There is absolutely no reason to sub otherwise. The point I was trying to make was more so about how the community on youtube has become a little rough compare to when things first started. (my apologizes if I didn't make that clear)

I actually have no marketing strategy and my intentions for this post was to learn and get to know some people. I feel like my post has been ripped apart, and the pieces placed together again to form the words sub4sub lol!! BUT going back and reading what I wrote, I guess my post wasn't thought out properly. I never realized that that's what it sounds like because I simply didn't think about it!

Anyway thanks for the reply. Have a good day

Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry if I came across as annoyed. I am/was annoyed but it's nothing personal against you of course.

Some of the replies after mine explained it well and probably in a calmer manner than I did, notably @TheDutchTexan and @MakeupANNimal and @Moses Cheeks

Put yourself in the position of the channel receiving your message. Comments and interaction are very rare when you're still small so seeing the notification is a great feeling for them. Then they read it and it starts off great saying you liked the video. But then they carry on reading and see you mentioning your own channel and implying that you'd like them to check out your own channel. That just makes the comment worthless and people will treat it as spam (even if that wasn't the intent.) - There was a recent thread on here about what annoys people about other Youtubers and people leaving comments like this was mentioned a lot.

I don't agree that YouTubers are selfish, but I do agree that YouTube is difficult, but definitely not impossible. The solution really is good content. Good content will get you subs and views from people who won't want anything in return from you. They won't be even thinking about their own channel because they love your content so much. That's what you should be aiming for. You have to make yourself and your content indispensable. If you do that, your sub count will take care of itself.

Good luck.

 

[MakeupANNimal]

Oh Crown, the times I rolled my eyes with this in my phone's notification bar:
I loved your video! Obsessed with your channel!.....
*opens creator studio*







I make videos too, maybe you can then them out sometime!

*facepalm*

At this point I look for some indicator that they watched the whole video through, like mentioning they liked a product I showed that's not in the thumbnail. People that actually is trying to start a conversation with me. Picture me on facebook like

Hey! You have no friends! I added you! You should add me so you can have friends and we could have a whole bunch of friends and eventually have so many friends that we get recognized for the number of friends we have! (But not actually saying this and thinking it)

Versus

Hey I saw that post you made about those lipsticks from Sephora. I've been eying them for a while, especially that matte magenta lipstick!

Which one am I going to respond to? Definitely the latter.

 

[McCoob]

Hi everyone! SO firstly, this is NOT an attack on YouTubers or anyone on this forum. So calm yourselves I am more so posing a question that I feel all YouTubers (especially newbies like me) should constantly be thinking about.

One of the biggest attractions about YouTube (for me at least), is the community. I really love the interaction and how I can chat to people after seeing a video that they put effort into, for my enjoyment! It's disappointing tho, when I find people who are so absorbed in their own channel and getting "subs" that they seem to forget that there is actually a community.

So often I reach out to a new channel, I sub (because its the easiest way to follow a channel and truly gauge whether I really like them or not), I follow them on twitter and then I wait. I don't like to nag people, but eventually I start to realize that the person I'm trying to support has little to no interest in me or even saying thank you :/ I think its especially important to remember that as a small channel, we should not obsess over numbers of views and subs, but rather focus on reaching out and giving other people a chance.

Most small Youtubers are on a tight budget, so often it's easy to click away from the first video you see on their channel, but I feel as a fellow small Youtuber (just starting out) why not check multiple videos? When someone reaches out and subs, sub back and follow the channel for a while. You can always unsubscribe if you don't like their content, but don't condemn small channels to the gutters from watching the first 10 seconds of a single vid. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are SO MANY great channels out there, but I feel like everyone takes, but wont give...unless it benefits them. Am I being to harsh? Does anyone else feel this way?

1. You claim that I should subscribe to my subscribers? What?
2. I always watch the newest video to determine whether I like the channel. 10 seconds is enough for me and if someone cannot interest me...it's his problem.

 

[Moses Cheeks]

Once your channel gets bigger it's hard to keep up. And I am definitely not going to sub to anyone that subs me and watch all of their videos just because I want to thank then. One girl pretty much shoved down my throat to subscribe and like, comment all her videos and guess what I did? Ignored it. Because that's not how you go about networking. There was a period where I tapped into a smaller youtuber group and I was subbing people I liked and I got flooded with people asking me to look at their channel too. I won't subscribe or respond unless I like their content. I just don't have the time to film, edit, and watch EVERY video for EVERY person that asks me to check them out, let alone subscribe. Ultimately if you want to grow you have to keep releasing content and mainly focus on your most engaged people (first to comment, superfans), not someone that subbed and followed on twitter. People won't notice that unless you have really good branding or left a good comment. You don't have to nag but you can still leave a comment without explicitly asking to sub! Your branding should point to the fact that you make videos so if they're small, they'll get the point and come to you on their own.

Ps. I used to personally thank people who subscribed, but now it's in a part of people's channels where majority of the people won't check. So it's a little of a waste of time and yt tags you as spamming. I'm ultimately going to thank people that leave meaningful comments and took time to watch my videos.

EXACTLY

 

[bycarrie]

Oh Crown, the times I rolled my eyes with this in my phone's notification bar:
I loved your video! Obsessed with your channel!.....
*opens creator studio*

I make videos too, maybe you can then them out sometime!

*facepalm*

At this point I look for some indicator that they watched the whole video through, like mentioning they liked a product I showed that's not in the thumbnail. People that actually is trying to start a conversation with me. Picture me on facebook like

Hey! You have no friends! I added you! You should add me so you can have friends and we could have a whole bunch of friends and eventually have so many friends that we get recognized for the number of friends we have! (But not actually saying this and thinking it)

Versus

Hey I saw that post you made about those lipsticks from Sephora. I've been eying them for a while, especially that matte magenta lipstick!

Which one am I going to respond to? Definitely the latter.

I'm starting to bypass spammy comments too. I don't like to do sub for sub but I feel really bad ignoring someones comment since I'm super small still. I usually say thank you and that I'll check them out. But omg lol one girl had the audacity to basically copy and paste the same comment on two of my videos. -.-.

 

[MakeupANNimal]

I'm starting to bypass spammy comments too. I don't like to do sub for sub but I feel really bad ignoring someones comment since I'm super small still. I usually say thank you and that I'll check them out. But omg lol one girl had the audacity to basically copy and paste the same comment on two of my videos. -.-.

I felt bad too that's why I was responding to so many and got overwhelmed! I hate when people don't remember that they already reached out to me and make it very apparent that they're only going to sub and not actually play the role of being a subscriber. I had one guy unsub and then came back a few weeks later and told me he subbed (again)! Why? I'd rather you not do that and see numbers drop from flaky people! Okay I'm getting ranty.

 

[LemmaDiaries]

I will respond to comments that are actually attempting to reach out and talk with me. If someone is advertising I will simply like it to express my gratitude for leaving something but I won't engage with it.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Community so important when doing the Youtube thing. That's what we're all trying to build around our isn't it? I love replying to comments, tweets etc. It's a good feeling that something you did has inspired someone to have something to say, or to want to see more. But we have to pay that forward. I always look at the channels of people who engage with me. In most cases I'll subscribe, or at least comment on something. I really dislike the term "pity sub" because that's not what it is. If I don't have anything to say I'll stay quiet. If what that person does isn't interesting to me, I won't subscribe. I only do it if I mean it.

So many of us are in the same boat here. Whether we do or don;t focus on numbers, no-one can deny how good it feels to see our channel growing and flourishing. I just don't see why it's considered wrong to return that favour and connect with others.

 

[Assaf]

Most small Youtubers are on a tight budget, so often it's easy to click away from the first video you see on their channel, but I feel as a fellow small Youtuber (just starting out) why not check multiple videos? When someone reaches out and subs, sub back and follow the channel for a while. You can always unsubscribe if you don't like their content, but don't condemn small channels to the gutters from watching the first 10 seconds of a single vid

Why not? I don't give small channels different treatment than I do larger channels. It's not my duty to give channels a chance. If you want people to watch your videos, make them on topics that hold their attention.

And it's not my duty to "sub back" either. Someone who subs to my channel does so because they enjoy the content I produce. If I don't enjoy their content I won't sub back. I think it's quite insulting in fact to sub "out of politeness" than out of true interest.